The present disclosure relates generally to materials used in electrochemical batteries. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to methods and apparatus for forming nanoparticles for used as electrode active materials and/or as electrolytes in electrochemical cells, which may be collectively referred to as battery materials. Merely by way of example, the disclosure has been applied to solid-state electrochemical cells, although there can be other applications.
Advancements in semiconductor and other fields have caused rapid development and adoption various mobile electronic devices, communication devices, electrical and hybrid vehicles and other devices and systems that rely on batteries for power. Some specific examples include portable computers (e.g., laptops), video cameras, cellular phones, and the like. Two prominent mobile electronic examples include IPHONE™ devices supplied by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. and ANDROID™ devices (operating system developed by Google Inc. in Mountain View, Calif.). Prominent examples among vehicles include electric cars from Tesla Motors Inc. in Fremont, Calif. and hybrid cars from (e.g., Toyota Prius) from Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan. Although highly successful, these battery-powered devices are limited by battery capacity while maintaining adequate level of safety. Many devices also demand high power in addition to high capacity for effective operation. Various types of lithium batteries, such as a lithium ion battery, has been considered and used for these devices. These batteries use liquid electrolytes for transporting ions between positive and negative electrodes during cycling. The liquid electrolyte often contains flammable and/or reactive organic solvents, such as carbonates, that undermine safety and some performance characteristics of these batteries. Some safety device for controlling the temperature, current, voltage, and other characteristics of these batteries have been proposed but are only marginally effective and often cannot protect from catastrophic failures. Lithium batteries having a solid electrolyte have been proposed and demonstrated improved safety. However, most of conventional solid electrolyte systems are expensive to manufacture and/or have poor performance (e.g., discharge rate).